The blog has a new look! What do you think??? Also, did you notice the new logo??? That is compliments of a dear friend of mine, who is not only my friend, but also one of my biggest cheerleaders as well! Thank you!!! Does anyone want to take a guess at my current stats?.....anyone?...anyone?....ok fine, I'll just tell you. *Drum Roll* 13 pounds and 20.25 inches!!!!! *applause* Thank you thank you :) While I was on my weekly grocery shopping run, I was thinking about how I've come to the point in buying the organic foods I buy , as well as the many years of researching and understanding what the best choices are for me and my family.

If you're anything like me, you probably read about organic, non-organic GMOs, Non-GMOs etc, and think....WTF?!?! Why can't food just be food? What happened to the simple days when you could go into the grocery store and buy an apple, without worrying if that apple will 1) break the bank to buy it 2) give my kids cancer 3) be worse than eating a candy bar due to the bazillion chemicals on it, and the list goes on. All of these thoughts would race through my mind, but over the years, I've learned to make the decisions that I felt are right for me and my family. We try to live by the motto of "everything in moderation", therefore, going to dire extremes is not an option. I remember the days when I would read healthy living articles, books, blogs etc. about clean eating and all the green alternatives, I would get to the point of thinking to myself......I can't win for losing. Everything I eat, clean with, use for daily grooming, breathe, touch, look at is going to kill me! To me personally, worrying about eliminating every possible disease causing chemical from your daily repertoire, is an unnecessary stress. What's the point of worrying constantly about these things, when it's likely that the worrying itself is taxing your health more so than these chemicals.

What I decided to do was keep it simple for me and my family. There are certain items that I will only buy organic, and there are others that it just doesn't really matter to me. So for starters what is organic food? In short, it's food that has been grown in the absence of man made pesticides, as well as any chemical fertilizers. Check out this link for a more in depth explanation, however the easiest way to think of organic food is food that your ancestors used to eat. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_food Obviously, non-organic is the opposite. It's food that is grown utilizing chemical fertilizers and synthetic pesticides. My organic foods shopping list includes, organic milk, eggs, chicken, and fruits/veggies on the "dirty dozen" list. The Environmental Working Group has a list of the top 12 foods that have the highest concentration of pesticides on them. Certain foods tend to hold onto those pesticides/chemicals due to their coverings (i.e. peel, thin skin, thick skin, etc.) I buy only organics in the below foods, and typically, I only buy them if they are on sale to save money. Contrary to popular belief, organic isn't always more expensive. You just have to know the right places to buy from. Today, for example, my local farmer's market had conventional apples for $0.98 per pound, and organic Red Delicious apples for.......$0.98 per pound! SCORE! Looks like apples are definitely on the menu this week in our house.

On the flip side, there's also a list of foods that you don't necessarily have to buy organic. Their unique skins allow them to be grown in a conventional way, but they will not retain as much chemical residue. So, save money and buy these non-organic.

With the whole organic vs. non-organic thing behind us now, what's the deal with all this GMO talk? You're probably seeing more and more foods these days with a label that says non-GMO, but you are probably thinking, what does that even mean??? A GMO, or genetically modified organism, is an organism that has had it's genetic material modified. Currently, there are no rules or regulations to label items in the U.S. that have been genetically modified. So why mess with the genes of our food? Basically, with the ever growing population, scientists are always looking for ways to get their best bang for their buck, so to speak. We're always searching for how to make fruits and vegetables not rot as fast, grow bigger, not have the nuisance of seeds, and heck.....now there's talks of an apple that doesn't oxidize and turn brown! Sound healthy to you? While the jury is still out on whether or not GMOs present risks to your health as a whole, my opinion is this.....Why take a chance? The GMO foods that are available today aren't anything close to their natural form. Since companies do not need to advertise if their products contain GMOs, the easiest way to ensure that you are eating something that is non-GMO is to buy organic. This website has a plethora of information for your inquiring mind, so check them out for some more in depth explanations of GMOs. http://www.nongmoproject.org/

So does your brain hurt yet? I hope not! Hopefully this helped clarify just a little about all the craziness that surrounds our food today. Tell me, what do you buy organic? What are your thoughts on GMOs? Feel free to check out the forum and post a topic.